Do you believe that all the works of every poet qualifies as poetry in every instance?

Question

Think of your favourite poet. Do you believe that everything they ever wrote was an example of good poetry or, in fact, poetry at all? A person called hydropro (doesn't use his real name) recently asked the question 'Which bathroom wall did I write this on?' He then gave a 2 line example of R. W. Emerson's work which, while an admirable sentiment, I do not think by itself really qualifies as poetry as such. Anyone else agree? Hydropro has blocked me from continuing the discussion, presumably because he knows he can't back up his insinuation over the full 9 yards, so I'd be interested in what others have to say.

Answer 1

I believe all the work of a poet qualifies as poetry.  Maybe it's not classic, publishable poetry, but it's still poetry.  I believe poetry is simply words with meaning written in a unique way. Basically if a writer says it's poetry, then it's poetry, if only to them.  For instance, I'm not a fan of the slam style, but I will never say it's not poetry simply because I don't think it's very good or it doesn't follow the "rules" of poetic style. Then again, I'm an ex-English major who really began to hate all of the rules placed on writing, so I no longer write with rhyme, beat, etc.